Calendar of Events

ITA Regional Tournament

Sponsored by Tennis (women)

Repeats: Every 2 days from September 20, 2013 to September 22, 2013.

Date: Friday, September 20, 2013

Time: All day

Location: St. Peter, Minn. - Gustavus Adolphus

The Luther women’s tennis team sent eight players to compete in the ITA Regional Tournament and Midwest Invite hosted by Gustavus Adolphus College on Sept. 20-21 in Saint Peter, Minn. The Norse had a successful weekend, compiling 20 wins along the way against strong competition from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

Caroline Treis and Adriana DePaolis competed in the ITA singles draw, each earning a victory in the tournament. Treis opened with a (6-4, 6-2) decision over St. Norbert’s Nancy Chybowski before falling (6-1, 7-5) to Coe’s Tai Lucero, the tournament’s top seed. DePaolis opened with a (6-0, 6-3) loss to second-seeded Victoria Bravo of St. Kate’s. She then rebounded to win (6-0, 6-0) against Carroll’s Megan Rosenberg. DePaolis’ tournament run came to an end with a (6-1, 7-5) loss to Jordan Ferree of Coe.

The Norse had a pair of doubles tandems also participating in the ITA doubles draw. After falling (8-6) to St. Thomas’ Shelby Henderson and Lauren Keller in their opening match, Luther’s Jenna Myers and Olivia Heitz ran off three straight wins in the consolation draw. The duo made its way to the consolation final before losing (8-3) to Katie Gillman and Maddie Johnson of UW-Eau Claire. Along the way, Myers and Heitz earned victories over Katelyn Glenna and Gabby Rivera of Macalester (8-3), Maria Koval and Angie Lorenzen of St. Kate’s (9-7), and Erika Williams and Amy Upthagrove of UW-Whitewater (8-5). Treis and Lauren Welch also played in the event, but dropped a pair of matches to tandems from UW-La Crosse and Edgewood.

Six Luther players played in various Midwest Invite singles draws, combining to win 10 matches. Welch nailed down victories over Olivia Gallagher of UW-Eau Claire (6-4, 6-2), Sam Silcox of Gustavus Adolphus (6-4, 6-3), and Julia Rumley of Grinnell (3-6, 6-3, (10-5)), advancing to the title match of Draw #5 before dropping a (6-2, 6-0) decision to Katherine Ake of St. Norbert. Megan Wachholz also won three matches while competing in Draw #7. After dropping her first round match to St. Olaf’s Lizzy Carlson (6-2, 6-2), Wachholz came back to win the back draw. She beat Lissia Carroll of St. Norbert (8-3), Rachel Siemon of UW-Whitewater (8-6), and finished in style with an (8-0) win over Minna Montgomery of Grinnell.

Kylie Kruse advanced to the semi-finals in Draw #6 with victories against Caitlin Owsley of St. Olaf (6-4, 7-5) and Amanda Ropiak of Concordia-Wisconsin (6-3, 6-4). She lost (6-1, 6-4) to Ariel Bloniarz of St. Norbert. Jenna Myers and Molly Brown each grabbed one victory in the main draw. Myers was a (6-3, 6-3) winner over Cal Carlson of Gustavus Adolphus in Draw #1. She lost (6-3, 6-2) to Grinnell’s Emma MacDonald in the second round. Brown beat St. Norbert’s Emily Rasmussen (6-0, 6-2) in her first match before falling (6-2, 6-4) to Carleton’s Julia Kromholz. Olivia Heitz dropped a pair of matches to players from Carleton and UW-Whitewater.

Wachholz and Kruse rattled off four straight wins on the doubles court after an opening round (8-2) loss to Samantha Fleming and Rachael Wabers of UW-La Crosse. The Norse duo defeated Hamline’s Elizabeth Hughes and Emily Butler (8-1), UW-Whitewater’s Kristin Zeilinger and Maddie Benhoff (8-2), Grinnell’s Rumley and Montgomery (8-4), and St. Norbert’s Ake and Maggie Berens (8-5) in the title match. Meanwhile, DePaolis and Brown knocked off Maggie Nelson and Bailey Abeyesekera of Gustavus Adolphus by an (8-1) count before losing in the second round to Bailey Kent and Andrea Jumes of St. Olaf.